Data provider InvestorEase acquired by UK’s FE

The deal will result initially in work to integrate InvestorEase’s infrastructure into that of FE, said Peter La Brooy, finance director at FE.

Subsequent work will integrate InvestorEase at the product level. There are two systems to consider for the integration: the InvestorEase.com website, which will remain free to use, and the InvestorEase desktop system, which is effectively a portfolio management tool available for download against a monthly subscription. That subscription service will continue, La Brooy confirmed.

InvestorEase.com will remain as a standalone website but be rebranded as FE Investegate Plus. A tabbed link will feed to the site from FE’s existing equity information service Investegate, which will retain its own current look and feel.

Adding InvestorEase to Investegate will boost FE’s direct equities skillset, at a time when the firm is looking to broaden its work outside the UK market. FE, which is best known among financial intermediaries for its funds data, has increased its presence in Europe and Australasia in particular over the past year. It recently added a “Private Investor Edition” to its UK focused FE Trustnet service.